“Legal education is an integral
part of the judicial system. Today over 500 law colleges in India
produce two lakh lawyers per year. The Five year L.L.B. Integrated Course is
much sought after.”
The legal profession has been
playing an increasingly meaningful role in dispensation of justice and ensuring
legal order envisaged by the Constitution of India. It shall be no exaggeration
to say that legal profession is most satisfying in terms of service and the
most relevant to society.
Naturally, the demand for legal
education is increasing day by day. In India,
there has been a paradigm shift in recent years, in the attitude of the
institutions imparting legal education the candidate seeking legal education
and also the other players like the Bar and the Bench. Gone are the days when
people used to thick that L.L.B is the last resort when all other options are
exhausted. Today law legal education is recognized as a professional course on
par with engineering and medicine.
At present there are more than
500 law colleges/schools in the country which produce nearly two lakh lawyers
every year.
Among these colleges/schools all
but the likes of National Law Schoolare traditional. The
traditional law colleges are either run by the State universities as Campus
colleges or by the private colleges affiliated to the universities. They are
required to get their affiliation approved by the Bar Council of India periodically.
A predominant number of law
colleges offer only three years LL.B. course i.e., after graduation. Few of
them offer five years integrated LL.B course after 10+2.
There are many differences
between the LL.B (3-YDC) and LL.B (5-YDC) in term of content of syllabus,
approach of students and career opportunities after the completion of course.
Several universities and law colleges are offering the five year course leading
to the B.A-LL.B (Honours), which incorporate a lot of practical training and includes
court attendance, legal research projects and practical work in legal centres.
The trend of students joining
five-year law courses after Intermediate is growing day-by-day and the
popularity of National Law Schools is an indication of it. The campus
placements from these colleges with hefty pay packets indicate that young
lawyers from top colleges are paid much more than engineers and doctors.
Some Leading Law Schools
Law Schools play in important
role in shaping the future career in law or related fields of a student or
realize that colourful and attractive brochures/ handbooks or historical
antecedents of the affiliated University are not the only factor in determining
the choice of the law school. The following are the important aspects to check
while choosing a law school: 1) Academic Reputation 2) Quality of Students 3)
Student faculty Ratio 4) Placements after completion of course 5) Quality of
teaching, 6) Library and other infrastructure facilities 7) Location.
The traditional law schools in
the country include University college of Law, Osmania University, Hyderabad,
Government Law College Mumbai, University College of Law, Bangalore University,
Campus Law Centres, Delhi University, Madras Law college, Chennai, Law College,
Calcutta University and Law College, Benares Hindu University.
The private law colleges which
are popular are ILS Law College, Pune, symbiosis, society’s Law College,
Pune, AmityLaw School, Delhi and KC Law College, Mumbai. The National Law Schools are the National Law school
of India University, Bangalore, the NALSAR Law university, Hyderabad,
the West Bengal National University of Judicial Sciences, Kolkata, theNational
Law Institute University, Bhopal, national Law University, Jodhput, Gujarat
National Law University Gandhinagar andHidayatullah National LawUniversity,
Ripur. It may be kept in mind that this list is only illustrative in nature.
There are any numbers of law schools that are imparting quality legal education
without much publicity and self-marketing.
Fee Structure
The annual fee required to be
paid depends on the law school, residential requirement and others factors. In
traditional university law colleges it ranges from Rs.15,000
to 20,000 (if hostel facility is offered), and in private law colleges it may
range from Rs.25,000 to 40,000 if hostel facility is provided. If no
residential requirement is insisted, it may be from Rs.2,500
to 25,000 per annum. In National Law School type institutions, the
residence on the campus is compulsory and all the fees put together, one has to
pay about Rs.1 lakh every year.
Career Options
There is no dearth of jobs and
career options for lawyers.
1. Joining the practice: Hence the lawyer can choose any
of the field like Arbitration, Banking Law, Consumer
Protection. Civil Law, Criminal Law, Human Rights, employment Law, Company Law,
Tax Law, Intellectual property law and management, Constitutional law and
Security law.
2. Joining a law firm which specializes in litigation or
chamber work or both in any of the above fields.
3. Joining an industry as a law officer. This includes
joining a multinational company or even a multinational consultancy firm or a
bank. According to an estimate, during the last 3-4 years various multinational
companies have hired around several thousands of law-graduates with salaries
ranging between Rs.20,000 – 30,000 per month from
prestigious law schools /colleges.
4. Joining the judge Advocate General’s office / law cadre
of the defense service
5. Joining public and Banking sectors as trainees of
probationary law officer.
6. Opting for a Government job. The Government needs law
officers. Legal advisors and legal assistants to administer different
departments. Further legal professionals are also appointed as public
prosecutors, solicitors, deputy or additional advocates-generals or
advocate-general.
7. Joining the State Judicial Service. Here officers are
recruited through a competitive examination. The Selected candidates are
appointed as junior civil judges, or munsifs in courts or also as chief
judicial magistrates.
8. Working as freelance journalists and contribute to
newspapers or joining a publishing house. They can also work as legal
correspondents of many newspapers and journals apart from the electronic media.
9. There are several other areas of specilisation open to
lawyers. These include international law, which as the name suggests, deals
with treaties and agreements between nations: parents law, which spcialise in
securing patents, and prosecute or defend infringements, real estate law, which
handles the conveyance of property, establishing titles and handling all such
matters dealing with land and so on.
The Legal Process Outsourcing is
another emerging arena wherein the foreign companies and clines use the
services of Indian Lawyers for whetting of documents and contracts, patent
research, case law research and registration of documents etc. it is estimated
that about 25,000 lawyers are required every year in this field. Check some
websites like http://students.indlaw.com/copportunity.asp
and http:// www.aftercampus.com/students_corner/law_1
htm. etc.,for further details).
Selection in all cases is on the
basis of merit. However, most universities have an entrance exam conducted in
the months of March, April or May every year.
Personal Attributes Required
It is not possible for everyone
to become a Nani Palkhiwala, M.C.setalvad or Ram Jethmalani. In order to
succeed in the legal profession the essential attributes required for law
student or lawyer are an active mind, quick thinking, logical reasoning, powers
of concentration, patience, perseverance, ability to argue and discuss matters with
all types of people, self confidence, excellent communication skills, ability
to express one’s self clearly and a good voice. They require hard work, good
interpersonal skills and proficiency in use of information technology in legal
profession.
